On Assignment
by bionic4ever
Summary: KAL2: After the traumas they endured on their last assignment, on the very day they are both completely healed, Oscar gives Jaime and Steve a very special new assignment. Steamy!
1. Chapter 1

**On Assignment**

Chapter One

"Well, Young Lady, I'll sure miss seeing your bright, smiling face every few days, but you are the definition of perfect health." Rudy grinned broadly at Jaime. "I am officially releasing you from treatment - at least until your six-month check up." Rudy was still awed by the fact that Jaime was alive at all. She'd survived being shot, less than three months earlier, and as a result had battled a severe, life-threatening infection. Not to mention that, hours after being injured, she and Steve had been forced to leap over an electrified fence from the roof of a burning building that was crumbling beneath their feet. The fact that they'd both survived was nothing short of miraculous.

Jaime smiled back at her doctor. "I can always stop by and visit, right?"

"You'd better." Rudy's eyes grew serious. "Jaime, how has it been for you, dealing with all your new memories?"

"They're really old memories," she reminded him, "just new to me." Her face was wistful. "It was so much easier with Steve to help me. But even with the cast on his arm, they've kept him so busy, consulting for NASA and aiding the new Secretary of State. We talk on the phone a lot, and he's been great...so patient. I just wish I could see him."

Rudy eyed her carefully. "I've got good news and bad news, then. I took Steve's cast off this morning, and he told me he's done at NASA, and with his other duties, too."

Jaime's entire face lit up, then she remembered: "What's the bad news?"

Rudy looked down at the floor. "Oscar called right before you got here," he told her quietly. "He needs to see you in his office, as soon as you're done seeing me."

"No," she said flatly.

"I'm sorry."

"He couldn't - he wouldn't - send me on an assignment on my very first day of perfect health! Would he?"

Rudy patted her hand. "Might as well go find out."

------

Jaime sailed into Oscar's office, having nodded 'hello' to Callahan as she flew by her desk. "Oscar, I just got released from treatment, less than half an hour ago! Can't I have a little time to enjoy it in peace? A day? A few hours?"

Oscar, at his desk, smiled tolerantly. The voice that greeted her, though, came from a chair by the window. "Hi, Jaime."

"Steve!" Once again, her whole face lit up brighter than the White House Christmas tree as she practically dove into his waiting arms. "It's so good to see you!" They kissed - a quick one, but _very_ warm, then sat down together on the loveseat, looking expectantly at Oscar.

They really do look _right_ together, Oscar thought. In spite of his own deep feelings for Jaime, he knew - the same way anyone who saw them together knew - she belonged with Steve.

"Gonna tell us why we're here?" Steve asked. "Or are we supposed to guess?"

"You're here because I have a job for you."

Jaime groaned. "Which one of us?"

"Both of you." Oscar smiled. "I'll be expecting the same teamwork you exhibited your last time out." They stared silently at him, with - at best - a grudging kind of interest. "The OSI has recently acquired a new safe house," he told them. "It's about two hours from Rudy's Colorado complex; the only structure in a little valley with mountains all around. I need the two of you to check it out thoroughly for us. Make sure it's up to all of our standards and codes."

"Isn't that usually done before you 'acquire' it?" Steve said pointedly.

Oscar sighed inwardly. Were they really not getting it? "Now, I should warn you that it's very quiet out there. Completely isolated." Still no reaction. "There are three bedrooms, so you can each take your pick." (Of course, they'll probably choose just one and share it, Oscar thought, but that's none of my business.) He wanted them to have time to regroup and to rediscover each other.

Oscar realized he'd have to be blunt. Aware that Steve and Jaime both knew this was only a one or two day job, he told them "The chopper that drops you off will be back exactly _two weeks_ later, to pick you up." He saw their wide, happy smiles and knew that - finally! - they understood.

------

Steve ran his fingers through Jaime's hair as she nestled against him in the rear seat of the chopper. They hadn't been together, physically, since she'd been made bionic, and Steve wanted her fiercely, but at the same time, he was in no hurry. He didn't want to rush her. If this wasn't the right time or place, well, he'd live with that. When she tilted her face toward his and they kissed, though, the need and desire in her eyes echoed as powerfully as his own.

------


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Jaime and Steve stood together, watching the chopper fly away, and then a little while longer, savoring the serenity of their home for the next two weeks. Jaime, especially, was awed. "It's so beautiful..." she whispered.

"Almost as beautiful as you are," Steve told her, placing one gentle hand on the small of her back, and tenderly caressing her face with the other.

Blue eyes and hazel ones met and paused as though on the edge of a precipice, then dove eagerly into each other, radiating emotions so deep they reached the very core of both souls. Steve's fingertips drifted from their almost reverent touch on Jaime's cheek around to the back of her head, turning her to face him directly, their bodies nearly touching.

"I love you," they both said in virtual stereo. Their lips brushed together with a fluttering, feathery softness. Jaime shivered at the intensity.

"Cold, Sweetheart?" Steve asked.

"In your arms? Definitely not," she said softly.

"We could head inside; check the place out. I'll bet there's a fireplace."

"I like how you think, Colonel."

This was definitely no 'cabin'. Steve got a fire going in the huge brick fireplace while Jaime checked out the kitchen. She literally bounced into the den, her eyes sparkling. "Steve, there's a wine cellar. Freezer's full of steaks, roasts, even lobster!"

"Look out the back window," he told her with a wide grin.

"_A hot tub_! Since when does a safe house have a hot tub?"

Steve joined her at the window, encircling her in his arms. "The elite among us have to stay safe, too, I guess."

------

Their first night's dinner had been pre-prepared for them, needing just an hour in the oven. As the tantalyzing aroma wafted through the house, Steve and Jaime snuggled together in front of the fire, blissfully comfortable in each other's arms.

"Why do you s'pose Oscar really sent us here?" Jaime asked. "I mean, our last assignment wasn't exactly a resounding success."

"Hey, we got out before the rescue team had to come in after us."

"Yeah, but we landed at their feet just as they were making their grand entrance."

"Still - the teamwork in that landing was spectacular." They both laughed, and Steve pulled Jaime closer. "We're the best team out there." He kissed her, harder this time, their mutual need pulling their bodies as close as they could get. With an inviting little flick of her tongue, Jaime let him know that - finally! - they were on the same page.

Their desire for each other had never been more intense, and the kiss grew as deep as a kiss could possibly get. Jaime moaned softly as she melted into his embrace. Any doubts Steve might've had about her state of mind or pushing her into anything disappeared, as her passion seemed to be fueling his own.

"I could turn the oven to _warm_," Jaime said breathlessly. "Unless you're really hungry..."

"Hungry, yes, but not for dinner," he replied, following her to the kitchen, unwilling to take his eyes off of her.

Jaime adjusted the oven setting while Steve kissed the back of her neck, a move that had always made her swoon. It still did. Jaime turned, and the slight space between them disappeared as she pressed her body fully against his. Their lips met again, with more fire than either of them had known was possible, and Steve swept her up in his arms, holding the kiss all the way into the den, where he sank onto the huge sofa with Jaime in his lap. Their tongues played together and their limbs became entangled as Steve made short work of the buttons on her shirt and marvelled at the velvety softness of the skin beneath.

Jaime was even quicker with Steve's shirt, and she let her hands explore every bit of his broad, muscular chest, curling the chest hairs playfully with her fingers before reaching around to give the muscles of his back equal treatment.

When neither of them could stand it for one more minute, Steve gently lowered her onto the thick, plush carpet beside the fireplace. When they joined together, bodies and souls, it was soft, sweet and more than either one had dared imagine or hope for. There was no awkwardness or hesitation; they knew each other too well for that. Several hours later, completely content, they were ready to think about dinner.

"You know, this place was already inspected with the OSI's finest-toothed comb," Steve pointed out as they dug into the beef and mushrooms with nearly the same hunger they had for each other. "They'd never have 'acquired' it otherwise."

"I know. Are we supposed to turn in a report or something?"

"Doubt it," Steve answered. "But just in case, maybe we should check out the hot tub - you know, make sure it's in perfect working order."

"And that the beds are sturdy, and the mattresses soft but not too soft..."

"I _really _like how you think," Steve told her.

"I had an excellent teacher."

------


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

"Hard to believe we have to go home tomorrow," Jaime lamented. "Two weeks went awfully fast."

"Just because this is over, doesn't mean _we_ are...right?"

"I hope not," she answered softly. "I feel so comfortable when I'm with you. It's like whatever the rest of the world can throw at us, we'll be ok, if we face it together."

"Teamwork in action," Steve confirmed. With his arm around Jaime's waist, he stepped off of the front porch and into the tall, soft grass, taking her with him. "We can tell Oscar we've thoroughly inspected the place."

"Passed every test we could come up with."

"There is one spot we haven't checked out..."

"Oh?" Jaime couldn't imagine, since they'd even made love in the wine cellar.

Steve grinned wickedly as he picked her up and laid her body down amidst the wildflowers and the tall grass. The clothes they'd only recently put on came off once again, as their insatiable desire for each other took hold for another round. Their releases occurred in unison, their bodies perfectly in sync, and they cried out and held each other close, their eyes reflecting the way their love had blossomed and grown even stronger in the last two weeks. The were now one soul, even when they weren't physically joined as one body.

"Oscar would be very proud of us," Jaime remarked later, as they watched the embers in the fireplace fade. "We were very conscientious in carrying out our assignment."

"I think we earned a vacation," Steve chuckled.

"Maybe he'll send us back here." Jaime sighed. "I'm really gonna miss this place..."

"I bet he'd let us come back here on our honeymoon," Steve said softly.

"Yeah, maybe...what did you say?"

"Marry me?"

Jaime stared at him with sparkling eyes. "But...you aren't on bended knee, so you can't _really _mean it."

"That'll do it for ya?"  
"Don't know...we'll see," she teased.

Steve instantly hit the floor on one knee and looked directly and deeply into her eyes. "Jaime, I love you more than life itself...even more than Mom's 'pasghetti'. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side. So, Miss Jaime Lyn Sommers, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?"

Jaime smiled through the tears in her eyes. "You know I will. Absolutely, positively - with my whole heart."

Steve took a tiny box from his pocket. "I believe this belongs to you." He placed a ring on her finger, the very one she'd worn before the accident that had torn them apart. Her expression told him she recognized it, and he slipped it on her finger and kissed her with every bit of the love in his heart, and with the firm intention to never, ever lose her again.

END


End file.
